If America was a “melting pot” (a concept coined and promoted by a socialist), why are there still black people in the US? If we were a “melting pot,” black would have disappeared several decades ago into the larger population.

Your comment certainly doesn’t apply to NYC. Besides, property taxes are actually lower in the city than on Lawn Guyland and Westchester, although the purchase price of housing is also higher than both suburbs.

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes." --- Thomas Jefferson

The Roman church had NOTHING to do with the founding of our country and in fact was hostile to the founding principles of our nation until the 20th century.

“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.” -— Thomas Jefferson

And hasn’t been so for 50+ years. It’s one of the parts of Brooklyn that is too Far East to have been gentrified by plain vanilla white people in the way that Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Fort Greene have.

Those "Jerseyans" you bash could have also been from the South Shore of Lawn Guyland. Lawn Guylanders of a certain social class are the worst in terms of boorish behavior (and are oddly referred to as "Jersey people" for some reason).

That being said, "ethnic pride" is for those who don't have anything in their own lives to be proud of. Old joke about the St. Pat's Parade is that it is where the Jews of Fifth Avenue get to watch their employees on parade. :)

You Miss Marmelstein are describing New Yorkers over 60. New Yorkers under 40 are all about farm to table. The latter also get their Italian from chefs named “Todd” and wouldn’t be caught dead reading the NY Post in anything other than an ironic manner? Have you spent any time with the Chelsea, let alone Williamsburg/Bushwick/LES hipster set?

The awards are not about cultural populism. It amazes me how every year some populist wonders “why didn’t the latest Pixar anime grossfest get nominated?” I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy, but it wasn’t Oscar-worthy. Neither were those awful Hobbit movies (all of them), which is why I was upset when the academy honored “Return of the King.”